Report: John Currie was set to hire Mike Leach; was ‘undermined’ and ‘sabotaged’ by Philip Fulmer

Just when you think the Tennessee coaching search couldn’t get any weirder, it does.

After whispers on Thursday night indicated that the Vols were
making serious progress in trying to make Washington State coach Mike Leach the next head coach at Tennessee, things took an ugly twist early Friday
morning.

Vols athletic director John Currie was pulled off the marathon search to attend a meeting with University of Tennessee Chancellor
Beverly Davenport in Knoxville on Friday morning. The result of that reportedly brief encounter appears to be that
Currie was relieved of his duties as athletic director.

Now that Currie is done on the search, details of an internal struggle between Currie and former Vols coach Philip Fulmer
have been surfacing through national reporters Bruce Feldman and Brett McMurphy.

Feldman reports that an industry source told him “throughout this entire coaching search Phil Fulmer has tried to undermine
AD John Currie in hopes of becoming the AD there.”

McMurphy had a similar story to tell from his sources, using the term “sabotaging” for Fulmer’s role in the search process.
McMurphy also unveiled that Currie was prepared to hire Leach, but that he allegedly was not allowed to do so.

Sources: John Currie was prepared to hire Mike Leach but university officials wouldn’t allow him to do so. Phillip Fulmer
has been sabotaging search process in hopes to become Tennessee’s AD

Another source: Tennessee’s own people have been ambushing (John) Currie’s (coaching search). They shoot themselves in the
foot, cock the gun &amp; shoot themselves in the other foot. It’s been going on for a week"